Some heroes wear capes, but most of them don't
by mahlia
Summary: It's been less than three months since Dick lost his parents. He's happy living with Bruce, but he still struggles with his grief, and Bruce would do anything to help. He takes Dick on a bit of a field trip to see the Hall of Justice- a place that doesn't do VIP meet and greets. But when you're Bruce Wayne, hell yeah, you can get the League members to meet your kid.


Day 1 of BatFam Week 2020. Prompt: Overprotectiveness | Meeting the Justice League | Meta-Human AU

I kinda touched on all three. The overprotectiveness is there if you squint, as is the meta-human part. No warnings apply.

* * *

In the two months since Bruce took in a devastated and traumatized little boy, their lives were finally settling into what resembled a routine. Since Mary Grayson homeschooled Dick, Bruce let him choose how he wanted to learn, though he gently encouraged attending a middle school over learning at home so Dick could meet children his age. Bruce was surprised when Dick chose Gotham Academy, though he really shouldn't have been, as they have one of the best gymnastics programs in the country. He started classes just after spring break and liked it more than Bruce thought he would.

With school settled and several months until tryouts for the gymnastics team, Bruce and Alfred got creative with keeping Dick busy. Whenever Dick wanted to go, Alfred took him to the Gotham City Public Library, an enormous building with lots of windows, multiple floors, and an impressive collection of comic books. Thursday nights they featured prominent community members who read aloud to children, and on more than one occasion, Dick met Lieutenant James Gordon. Dick took an immediate liking to the man, remembering him from his kindness that night at the circus, and Gordon always made sure to save a spot for Dick right up front. Once in a while, he even asked Dick for help if he got stuck and needed help sounding out a word.

Saturday afternoons were reserved for trips to the zoo, museums, the botanical gardens and other fun activities like seeing a movie. Sundays were special, since Alfred had the afternoon and evening off, leaving Bruce and Dick in charge of making lunch and dinner. That meant they could have whatever they wanted, usually the meals Alfred said weren't good for growing little boys. The first Sunday they made a meal together, Dick learned of Bruce's love of pizza, and how much fun it was to make your own from scratch.

Despite their efforts to keep him occupied and find him an outlet for his pain, Dick had a knack for hiding how much he was hurting, plastering a smile on his face whenever anyone asked how he was doing. As frustrating as it was for Bruce, he understood. He remembered growing tired of everyone asking him that question; it was easier to tell people what they wanted to hear. Once they got an answer, they tended to stop asking.

Perhaps for the first time, Bruce understood the challenges Alfred faced when Bruce was a child dealing with that familiar grief, and he had a newfound admiration for Alfred and his seemingly infinite wisdom and patience.

They were sitting in the kitchen having coffee late one sunny Saturday morning in May, watching Dick play outside, when Bruce admitted he was out of ideas.

"I know he's doing well at school, and he really seems to enjoy all the outings we take him on." Bruce tore his gaze from the window and sighed, staring into his mug before taking a sip. "But when he thinks we don't notice, when he lets his guard down, it's obvious he's still struggling."

Alfred smiled warmly as he watched Dick race back and forth across the expansive backyard, a makeshift cape flapping behind him. Thank goodness he'd taken one of the older bath towels from the laundry room. It rained last night and the yard was a bit muddy.

"That's only natural, Master Bruce. He's a nine year-old boy who, less than three months ago, lost both of his parents. I imagine he'll struggle for quite some time."

Bruce huffed a sigh and rolled his eyes before glancing out the window again, Alfred's advice clearly not what he wanted to hear. Alfred had to smother a laugh. He'd lost count of the number of times a much younger Bruce had given him such attitude when Alfred was honest with him instead of sugar-coating his answer.

"Everyone deals with loss differently," he continued. "You exhibited a lot of the same behavior, and I know you remember that."

His eyes not leaving the window, Bruce hummed his agreement.

"The best you can do is make sure he knows you'll do whatever you can to help, and to give him time to process how he feels. He'll come to you eventually."

Bruce nodded and finished his coffee, putting his mug in the sink. He leaned on the counter and peered out into the yard where Dick was still tearing around, holding his arms out in front of him and laughing as he pretended to fly. He was certainly an energetic boy, though most nine year-olds were. But it occurred to him, however, that Dick had been out in the yard for the better part of the morning and hadn't come in for a glass of water or even taken a break.

One look at his watch confirmed his suspicion. Dick had been outside for over three hours and hadn't slowed down at all. After his marathon trip to the trampoline park the night before, Bruce was surprised Dick got out of bed before ten. But as usual, he woke up around 7 and Alfred found him in the gym in the middle of a complex tumbling pass. Though his energy level was no trouble at all and Dick could stop and focus whenever he needed to, he just didn't appear to have an off switch.

It was something he'd look into later, as Dick's stamina rivaled his own even on his best day, but first, he wanted to call in a favor. He pulled out his phone and brought up Clark's contact information.

He had an idea.

* * *

"Bruce, where are we going?"

Dick peered out the window as they continued along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, crossing the Anacostia River. Bruce handed him his phone, with their destination on the screen, and Dick's eyes went wide.

"No _WAY_! We're going to the Hall of Justice?!"

Alfred smiled from the front seat, meeting Bruce's gaze in the rearview.

"I figured you might want to impress Superman with those flying skills of yours."

He gave the phone back to Bruce and looked up at him, confusion wrinkling his brow.

"How? You can't actually meet the members of the Justice League there."

Bruce slid his phone back in his pocket and shifted in his seat so he could face Dick.

"Normally you can't, no. But I know someone, and she owed me a favor. So you're going to meet Superman today."

Dick unbuckled his seatbelt and launched himself at Bruce, wrapping his arms around his neck.

"That is SO cool! Thank you thankyouthankyou!"

Bruce winced at the excited shriek next to his ear and wrapped his arms around Dick with a grin, tickling the soft hair at the nape of Dick's neck when he didn't let go. He wriggled free of Bruce's hug and grinned, his blue eyes full of excitement. Bruce decided he would do absolutely anything to make Dick smile like that again in the future, legal or otherwise.

"You're welcome, chum. Now let's get your seatbelt buckled again. There's a lot of traffic in this part of the city."

Dick watched with fascination as they drove past the White House and the National Mall. Sensing the question Dick was about to ask, Bruce spoke up.

"Would you like to come back and see the rest of Washington D.C. sometime?"

All Dick could manage was a nod, as the Hall of Justice came into view as they turned the corner. Alfred dropped them off, and Dick stood on the sidewalk leading up to the entrance, staring up at the massive building. Bruce joined him, letting Dick have a minute to take it all in, before holding out his hand.

"Ready?"

Dick looked up at him and nodded, a hint of nervousness evident in the way he squeezed Bruce's hand. Bruce began to walk, but Dick held back, looking down at his Superman t-shirt with a frown. Bruce dropped to one knee, waiting patiently until Dick looked at him.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't actually fly, B. What if he doesn't like me?"

Bruce used his free hand to squeeze Dick's shoulder.

"What's not to like? Besides, I bet he's a really nice man."

"Are you sure?"

Bruce crossed his heart with his finger and stood.

"Absolutely positive. My friend Diana says he's one of the nicest people she knows."

"Okay."

They joined the dozen or so people in the ticket line in the lobby. When they reached the front of the line, someone on their far left waved them over, and Bruce looked down and smiled at Dick before they made their way to her window. Diana stood before them, giving Bruce a wink before she leaned forward to get a look at Dick.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. How can I help you?"

"We have two VIP passes for Bruce Wayne," he said quietly, keeping up the appearance they didn't know each other, as there were still people in the lobby.

"Of course, right this way, Mister Wayne. I'll meet you at the door to your left."

Dick, holding Bruce's hand like his very life depended on it, followed Bruce to the door and through it after Diana let them in. She led them down a short hallway to an elevator before turning to Dick.

"You must be Dick. My name is-"

When he looked up at her, he grinned, and his cheeks turning red.

"Wonder Woman," he answered bashfully, holding out his hand. "I recognize you."

She laughed and shook Dick's hand, before removing a pin from her hair and shaking it loose, the waves cascading down her shoulders. Pushing her sleeves up her forearms, she showed him her gauntlets.

"That hairstyle usually fools most people," she said, smiling up at Bruce. "But clearly you're more perceptive than most."

He brushed his fingers against the smooth metal, following the grooves along her wrist.

"He certainly is," Bruce said proudly, mussing his hair. "He's also usually more talkative."

Dick snorted and rolled his eyes, his cheeks turning another shade of red as he fixed his hair.

"You didn't say Wonder Woman would be here," he muttered. He tried to sound irritated, but the wide grin on his face said otherwise.

The elevator arrived and the doors opened, Diana waving them in. She entered a code into the panel before she selected a floor. Bruce noticed she was taking them to their main meeting room and bit back a grin. She was really pulling out all the stops today.

Once the elevator began its descent, she turned back to Dick.

"Bruce tells me you're a big fan of Superman. Are you excited to meet him?"

Dick nodded.

"Well, he's excited to meet you. When I told him you were coming, he said he's always wanted to meet you."

Dick's eyes widened again.

"Me? Why me?"

Diana quickly glanced at Bruce, silently asking if it was alright to say anything more, and he nodded. He knew Clark was a big fan of the circus; that was the first thing he'd asked Bruce when he'd told Clark about Dick, if it was the same Grayson family. Dick would be thrilled to know someone like Clark admired him and his parents.

"He saw you perform at the circus in Metropolis last year, and the Flying Graysons are his favorite act."

Dick grinned proudly and stood a little straighter.

"My dad would be so excited right now," he gushed. "He liked Superman, too."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, and Diana stepped out first. Dick followed and Bruce hung back, watching Dick's every reaction.

"I'm going to go get him," Diana said. "But feel free to look around."

"Thank you, Diana."

Diana turned and smiled over her shoulder.

"You're welcome, Bruce."

Dick stopped and turned to look at Bruce.

"She's the friend you said owed you a favor, isn't she?"

Bruce chuckled and walked into the room, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"She is, yes."

Before Dick could ask how he knew Diana, a door behind him opened and a familiar voice filled the empty room.

"I heard we have someone very important here today," Clark said, gliding across the room and stopping in front of the two of them. He lowered himself until his feet touched the floor and smiled down at Dick.

Dick looked up at Bruce, who shook his head and held both of his hands up with a smile.

"He's not talking about me."

Dick stared up at Superman in awe, swallowing hard before taking a tentative step forward and trailing his fingers across the edge of his cape. Clark turned to give him a better look at it.

"The name's Superman," Clark said softly, crouching to meet Dick's gaze. He held out a hand and smiled. "It's really nice to meet you."

Dick's hand disappeared in Clark's grasp and he smiled, able to actually look at Clark now.

"I'm Dick. It's nice to meet you, too."

"You're quite the acrobat," Clark said, rising to his feet. "I saw you and your family last summer in Metropolis. You guys made it look so easy!"

Dick blushed, and Bruce could see just how pleased he was to hear that.

"When you practice as much as we did, it's not that hard," he said. "But thank you."

Clark chuckled, resting his hands on his hips.

"You're saying that quadruple somersault, something _no one else_ can do, was easy?"

Dick shrugged casually, but it was easy to see the pride in his eyes. Bruce felt himself smiling more than he usually allowed himself to do in the company of Clark and Diana, but he didn't care.

"You can fly- I'm pretty sure you can do one, too."

Clark shrugged, noticing Bruce smiling almost ear to ear, and filed that image away for later.

"Technically, I can, but it's not at all the same. Because I can fly, I don't have to worry about falling, so it's not scary. But you do all of those things without being able to fly like me, and that's much, _much_ cooler. And so much harder."

"I guess," Dick replied. "But it would be so cool to actually fly."

Clark held his hand out to Dick, glancing over at Bruce as he did so. Bruce gave a nearly imperceptible nod.

"Want to take a ride?"

Dick froze for a moment before turning to look at Bruce, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Can I Bruce? Please?"

Bruce made a show of thinking about it for a moment before giving in.

"Sure, why not?"

"YES!"

He turned back to Clark.

"Wait- how high can we actually go? How fast can you go?"

Clark picked him up and set him on his shoulders as they made their way to the door.

"Let's wait until Bruce is out of earshot before I answer that," he answered. "It'll be our little secret."

Even through Clark's back was turned, Bruce could picture the shit-eating grin he likely wore. Bruce bit his tongue, fighting the urge to say Clark's name. He felt Diana's gaze on him, and he turned to look at her.

"It suits you," she said with a soft smile, stepping closer to him.

"What does?"

"Fatherhood."

Before he could reply, she continued.

"Hal, Barry, Oliver, and Arthur are here, too. Think Dick is up to meeting six members of the League in one afternoon?"

Bruce took a seat at the table, mulling it over, Dick's seemingly endless energy making the decision for him. Diana joined him, taking the seat next to him.

"I think he can handle it," he replied. "He enjoys being around people, and I worry about him getting lonely at home."

"So he doesn't know you're Batman?"

He shook his head.

"Not yet, no. He knows Batman is working on the investigation of his parents' deaths, but that's all. Things are picking up, and I've made a lot of progress lately, but at times, it's been hard to keep it from him."

She frowned, cocking her head.

"How so?"

"Obviously, it's been hard for him, losing both parents. He asks a lot of questions that only Batman can answer, if you catch my drift. I wonder if telling him would help, but I also worry about putting him in danger."

Silence fell between them as Diana contemplated her answer.

"Look at it this way. So far today, he's met both Wonder Woman and Superman. Based on his t-shirt," she said, grinning wickedly, "I'd say in meeting Superman, he met one of his heroes. And he handled that remarkably well."

Bruce playfully narrowed his eyes at her, but said nothing.

"Yeah, you're never going to live that down, by the way," she teased, before getting serious again. "Only you can know for sure what he can handle or what he can't. But if he has questions only Batman can answer, perhaps Batman giving him those answers can help him process that grief and move forward."

Bruce nodded.

"I've thought about that. An officer who worked my parents' case did something like that for me, and it helped, somewhat. And I plan to tell him eventually, but maybe it's time to move that timeline ahead."

Before they could continue their conversation, Clark and Dick returned from their outing. Dick's hair stood on end and his cheeks were pink from the warm sun and laughter, as were Clark's.

"How did it go?" Bruce asked, getting to his feet. "Looks like you had fun."

"Clark tossed me so high in the air, I did _five_ somersaults!"

Clark's face immediately paled, and he carefully put Dick on the floor, resting one hand on his shoulder. Before he could defend himself, Diana intervened.

"Dick, I have some friends who also want to meet you. How do you feel about meeting Green Arrow, the Flash, Aquaman, and a Green Lantern?"

Dick spun on his heel, his flight with Superman momentarily forgotten.

"Are you serious?!"

Diana nodded.

"That would be so amazing!"

She held out her hand and Dick took it, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Let's go find them and bring them back here to meet Bruce."

Once they were gone, Clark approached Bruce sheepishly.

"Look, Bruce, he wasn't in any danger. But he pulled the 'you're my favorite superhero' card, and I caved."

Bruce shook his head, holding a hand out to stop him.

"Clark, this may come as a surprise, but I trust you. I wouldn't have brought Dick with me if I hadn't."

Clark relaxed and huffed a relieved sigh.

"Thank you for that. He's really a great kid."

Pride swelled in Bruce's chest.

"I know."

"To be honest, I really admire him. He told me when he's older, he wants to help people, just like his hero."

Bruce looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"So he wants to fly and save stray cats?"

Clark rolled his eyes and gave Bruce's shoulder a playful shove.

"No, Bruce. _You're_ his hero. He wants to help people like you helped him."

Bruce was stunned into silence, unable to respond at all, which made Clark happier than he'd ever admit. Moments later, there was a commotion as Dick and Diana returned with Hal, Oliver, Arthur and Barry in tow. Diana was now in full Wonder Woman dress. They were all laughing about something Dick said, from the sound of it.

"Bruce! We have to come back here some time. This place is so much fun!"

Bruce, the only other one in the room not in costume, tried to ignore the surprised expressions on Oliver and Hal's faces as they took in the forest green t-shirt, dark jeans and brown boots he was wearing.

"I might be able to arrange that, sure."

Dick ran over to him and wrapped his arms around Bruce's waist, hugging him as tightly as he could.

"Thank you. I had a really good time."

Oliver and Diana smiled at each other, and Hal's jaw actually fell open at the sight of a child hugging the man who creeped him out on a regular basis.

"Next time, can you see if Batman can come? I've always wanted to meet him."

Clark and Oliver covered their mouths, trying to stifle their laughter, and Hal actually had to turn away. Diana elbowed him and his shoulders shook as he struggled to maintain his composure. Bruce's glare silenced all of them, and he forced a smile before he looked down at Dick.

"I'll see what I can do. He's usually busy in Gotham, I think, so we may have a better chance to meet him there."

Dick nodded, seeing the logic in Bruce's answer.

"Can Superman come? I want to try the five somersault thing again."

Bruce clenched his jaw at the merriment in Clark's eyes when he met Clark's gaze.

"We'll see. Now, thank everyone for their time, and let's go find Alfred. We'll stop for dinner on the way home."

Dick turned and waved at everyone.

"Thank you, everybody! This was so cool!"

As they turned to leave, Hal spoke up.

"It was nice to meet you Dick. You too, _Mister Wayne_. I hope you come back to visit!"

Tired of the jabs coming his way, Bruce turned and dropped his voice to the upper edge of Batman range- low enough there would be no mistaking it, but not low enough Dick would be suspicious.

"I'm sure we'll be back, Lantern. You can count on it."

Hal's face paled just a little beneath the mask and Bruce smiled devilishly before following Diana to the elevator. Dick shuffled ahead of them, rifling through the bag of goodies Clark and Diana prepared for him. It was full of Justice League memorabilia, action figures and fridge magnets. He held up the Batman logo and grinned, showing Bruce.

"He's a great kid, Bruce," she said quietly. "There's something special about him."

Bruce glanced sideways, catching her gaze. She, too, had picked up on something, much like he had that morning.

"There certainly is," he answered. "It's nice to know he's got family here, too, in case he needs help in the future."

The elevator opened and Diana rested her hand on his shoulder, squeezing until he looked at her again.

"Of course- you both do. And you always will."

She kissed his cheek and gently pushed him into the elevator.

"Drive safely."

"Thank you, Diana."

Dick tore his attention away from his bag long enough to wave at Diana one more time before the doors closed.

Diana returned the wave and turned to head back to the meeting hall.

She never thought she'd see Bruce as a father figure, but now that she had, it was clear he was a natural. With a grin, she wondered if Dick would be his only child.

After what she'd seen today? Probably not.


End file.
